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There’s no argument, Israel Folau must wear the 15 jersey on Saturday night at Suncorp against the Boks. And right through to the end of the year.
Today, coach Ewen McKenzie will name his 23-man squad, and hopefully, for the benefit of the Wallabies, Folau will be at 15, Nick Cummins replacing Folau on the wing, and Quade Cooper at 10.
Now we’re talking.
[UPDATE: Wallabies team has been announced – with Cooper at flyhalf and Folau at fullback]
Discussion/debate has raged for 10 days on where Folau should play.
The antis have been quoted: “He’s not experienced enough for Test fullback”, “He missed a tackle against so-and-so”, “He dropped a pass against so-and-so”.
And so have thousands of other players over the years.
Just because The Don scored the most famous duck in Test cricket history mean he couldn’t bat. His 99.94 career average stuffs that argument.
But when you have one of the most exciting rugby players on the planet, you don’t bury him on the wing, because he played some rugby league there.
Especially when he’s made his mark at fullback in his debut season with the Waratahs.
Robbie Deans was originally at fault there, surprisingly supported by McKenzie when he took over the reins.
Today should see the end of that five Test folly, and the end of Cooper’s retribution.
Like Folau, Cooper is a game-breaker, and if he’s back in favour for Saturday, accept him warts and all.
Out-of-sorts half Will Genia will certainly welcome Cooper’s return; he needs Cooper as much as Cooper needs him.
And McKenzie needs them both firing on all eight, or he’s heading for three-zip.
With Folau off the wing, hopefully for good, it’s time for Nick Cummins to be promoted to the wing. In fact, it’s overtime.
That leaves Jesse Mogg and Matt Toomua on the outer, but for the sake of the side, they have been replaced by far more dynamic players.
With the backs sorted, what changes will McKenzie make up front?
Ben Alexander and Sekope Kepu haven’t been hitting their straps, with Alexander having to watch the penalty counts he’s knocking up. So too Michael Hooper and Ben Mowen.
The Wallabies cannot afford to give away so many penalties gift-wrapped for a sharp-shooter like Morne Steyn.
But there’s little on the horizon to warrant a switch, except perhaps for musical chairs on the bench.
All rugby fans want on Saturday night is for the men-in-gold to be disciplined, and get the basics right: accurate passing, mistake-free handling, and first time tacking.
Damn, they are Wallabies, and you expect, even demand, they get the basics right.
It’s a sad state of affairs we have to even mention the basics, but it’s a fact of life.
As it is a fact of life that both Ewen McKenzie and the Wallabies need Saturday night to be a “W”.
Badly.